The past fades into obscurity as the future comes into bloom. As a new year approaches... it always seems like a good time to reflect upon the success' or failures of the year past... and almost all of us find ourselves making assessments on our lives and the courses that they have taken. I'm kind of still just asking myself... WTF just happened? I will always remember 2010 as a year of great transition... a turning point in my life... I think if I should reach the grand old age of eighty I will look back at the last year and use it as a dividing point in the timeline of all of my days. 2010 was for me a year of chaos and contrasts. Mostly really... it was a boot in the ass repeatedly... or at least that's what it felt like. 2010 was like a "boot in the ass machine." Who am I kidding? Didjoo get that feelin'? Man! 2011 is going to be a year of great healing and calm, inspiration and productivity... I think it will be positive and structured in a way that 2010 never could have been. It's my opinion that if you repeat something enough... besides forgetting what you were saying and why in the first place... my opinion is that if you repeat something enough there's a tiny little chance that it might be slightly more probable. probable. probable. probable... I guess it must have been a really tough year if I'm analyzing strategies to make something "a tiny little chance... slightly more probable." When you're looking for the "tinly little chance it's slightly more probable" edge you're really walking the thin margin in life. It's how fortunes get made and casino's get rich... or go broke and collapse... either way. That was pretty much 2010 for me. As Napoleon Dynamite would say "gaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwddddddddddd!!!!!!!!!" My goal is to keep 2011 down to a soft fluffy slipper in the ass instead of a boot. I read in some self help book that I'd never buy... "you've got to have achievable goals." That's probably a bunch more of that self help craziness. "Soft fuzzy slipper" seems like it could be an achievable goal. Nothing makes you feel more like a bigger loser than failing to attain "achievable goals." Come on... you guys ask for like fifteen bucks for these books! Do you read the shit you write? A lot of these self help books should probably have a pre-filled out prescription for prozac right there on the last page... along with ads for therapists. I'll give you this advice... for free... as long as you give Viewminder credit... because it's really brilliant and it might be something I could merchandise some day... you know... start a quasi religious self help empire... even do seminars and stuff... "Welcome to the Setting Unnatainable Goals Seminar." tm "Reach for the Unobtainable!" tm This is the way Viewminder sees it: If you want to feel good about yourself... set UNACHIEVABLE goals! If you fail... and 2010 seemed to do that a lot to my goals... unachievable or otherwise... at least in the first ten months... if you fail to attain an "unachievable" goal... you'll just be like... "hey... that was dumb... I set myself up for that one... that was kinda one of those "unachievable" goals. No big. I'll just buy a book or something that advises me to set achievable goals in the future for fifteen bucks." Failing to meet a goal that you set that's unachievable? You can work that out with yourself over one beer. A couple of glasses of wine. No problem. I never get too hard on myself for failing to meet the unachievable goals I set for myself! But... What happens when everything lines up for you and with some good fortune and maybe a little persistence... you score... and then you somehow happen to achieve one of those "unachievable" goals? That feels good... king of the earth good... egoliciously good... often profitable. I've had a few "unachievable" goals work out in 2010. If I sold advice books for fifteen bucks a pop that's what I'd work a whole marketing program around. Viewminder says: Set UNACHIEVABLE goals! Failure is much easier to deal with. And success is absolutely spectacular. As you can see I'm a positive minded goal oriented individual... who's sick of being booted in the ass. Soft fuzzy slipper... soft fuzzy slipper... soft fuzzy slipper... After the middle of October I began laying the bedrock foundations for living a new and better life... and already before the year is over... those efforts have brought a great calm, serenity and happiness to my existence. I feel like I've traded one life for another... and I feel blessed that this opportunity came to me. There are things that I will miss about the life that I used to have... no thing of any great complexity is ever all good or all bad... but in the span of distance and time even the things that I might have missed from that life seem to be fading away unnoticed silently

Kabul, Afghanistan | October 6, 2010 – U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, Minister Asif Rahimi and Deputy Minister Mr. Saleem Khan Kunduzi of the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) celebrated the opening of the International Agricultural Fair at Badam Bagh Farm in Kabul today. Over the next two days, the fair will draw thousands of visitors from Afghanistan and around the world. The International Agricultural Fair will host 136 Afghan and 40 international venders, showcasing the country’s crown jewels of agriculture, such as grapes, pomegranates, dried fruits, nuts, cashmere, and other high value crops and agricultural services. “Afghanistan’s progress in the agriculture sector is helping lead this proud nation along the pathway to development and self sufficiency by helping feed the Afghan people, opening markets, and stimulating economic growth and investment opportunities,” lauded Ambassador Eikenberry. USAID, in collaboration with MAIL, has sponsored 13 Agricultural Fairs since 2007 to encourage trade and generate business opportunities in the agricultural industry. These fairs help participants forge new business relationships in Afghanistan’s growing agriculture sector. They also bring together hundreds of producers, buyers, packagers, cold storage technology companies, equipment vendors, international representatives, and government agencies to facilitate stronger business linkages and partnerships. Seminars, presentations, and demonstrations will share knowledge and best practices for increasing agricultural production. This year’s participants include importers, exporters, wholesalers, retailers, producers, input suppliers, and service providers from throughout Afghanistan as well as from countries including the United States, China, Germany.